Directors
How French Director Jacques Tati’s Masterwork Almost Destroyed Him
There are just a few authentic geniuses in the history of cinema whose names and work must be remembered. High on that list is Jacques Tati.
Actors
Dan Duryea— How a Good Man Excelled at Playing the Bad Guy
Never a big star but a welcome fixture in westerns and film noirs over three decades, Dan Duryea specialized in playing the heel. In those kinds of parts, no one could touch him.
Actors
All About Anne Baxter, The Actress Who Played “Eve”
Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “All About Eve” is often cited as the best film ever made about the theater, and I believe it earns that distinction. It also stands one of the most literate dramas ever to come out of Hollywood, a caustic, cautionary tale about how the dark side of our natures can emerge in the pursuit of bright lights and fame.
Directors
Why Jean Gabin Is Still France’s Greatest Film Export
As most of you know, I spend my life being picky about movies. There are just a few actors I’ll watch in almost anything. Jean Gabin makes that very short list. Some reading this may have forgotten him, or never even heard of him. His heyday, after all, was nearly eighty years ago, and he’s been gone for over forty. Yet in his prime, no one could touch him.
Actors
Chaplin: Why the Little Tramp Remains Such a Big Deal
In 1910, the prestigious Fred Karno theatrical troupe in England got the chance to tour America. Its star attraction, a twenty-one-year-old performer named Charles Chaplin, was on-board that first ship crossing the Atlantic.
Actors
Dancing like a Man: The Masculine Moves of Gene Kelly
It always irked Gene Kelly that dancing was considered an effeminate activity for men. When his mother first enrolled him and his brother in dance classes when Gene was still a boy, he had to endure taunts from his classmates which he promptly settled with his fists.
Directors
Why George Cukor Was a “Woman’s Director,” and So Much More
It’s sad but true that the bygone film directors we tend to remember are those associated with specific types of films (think Hitchcock for suspense and John Ford for Westerns), while the more versatile players somehow get lost in the fog.
Actors
How Actor Joel McCrea Created His Own Stardom
Joel McCrea was always clear-eyed about his place in the Hollywood firmament. He once said that he got offered the comedies that Cary Grant passed on, and the Westerns Gary Cooper rejected.
Actors
How Greer Garson Combined Refined Beauty With Raw Talent
During the Second World War, there was no bigger female star in Hollywood than Greer Garson. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar five consecutive times over that period, from 1941-1945. (Only Bette Davis matched Garson’s record, between 1939-1943).